Andy Bathgate, right, and Harry Howell leave the ice after their jerseys were retired by the Rangers in a ceremony before last night's game. / Seth Wenig/The Associated Press

Written by

Sam Borden

Journal News columnist

The Rangers paid tribute to one of their legends, Andy Bathgate, last night by retiring his No. 9 jersey in a pregame ceremony at Madison Square Garden. It was a stirring event, with one of Bathgate's long-time teammates, Harry Howell, having his No. 3 sent to the rafters as well. It was also long overdue; some of us have been thankful for Bathgate's contributions to hockey for years.

In order, I think the people who have most admired Bathgate over the past two decades or so are: My parents, my pediatrician and the guy who took yearbook photos for Mamaroneck High School in the mid-90s.

The only person I can think of who probably wishes Bathgate never picked up a stick is my dentist. He wouldn't have minded the work.

You see, Bathgate was a forward for the Rangers from 1952-64, and one night in 1959 he took a well-placed shot that led to an NHL goalie wearing a facemask for the first time in a game.

Because of him, a nation of future goalies - including me - managed to avoid cauliflower ears, hooked noses and gap-toothed smiles that would have made Michael Strahan blush. Truth is, to goalies, Bathgate is a hero. Or, at the very least, a guy who saved us from a ton of plastic surgery.

For years, it was assumed that Bathgate was an accidental savior. That his snap shot to the face of Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante was unintentional, an errant attempt on net that just soared a little high. But in a casual sit-down with a group of reporters on Friday, Bathgate revealed that it was not dumb luck that spared thousands of grateful mugs, but rather something more primitive: Revenge.

"You see, Jacques used to be a bit of a showman," Bathgate began with a wry grin, explaining how Plante liked to get out of the goal crease and handle the puck with dramatic flair, as well as how he would sometimes grab Bathgate's shots with his catching glove and say haughtily, "Like pickin' cherries, Bathgate."

On that night, Plante was in rare form, and when Bathgate chased the puck behind the net, Plante gave him a poke check that ended up cutting Bathgate's ear and face. As he waited in the dressing room to get stitched up, Bathgate decided he needed to get back at Plante.

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"But if you start a fight with the goalie, the whole team is going to get you," Bathgate said.

So he went with a more subtle approach. Coming down the left wing a few minutes later, Bathgate let go a whipped shot that rose up into Plante's nose.

"I gave him a little bowtie on the cheek," Bathgate said, chuckling. Crumpled by the blow, Plante had to be helped off the ice, and when he returned, he was wearing a plastic mask that he'd previously only used in practice.

"I thought, 'What on earth is this?' " Bathgate said of his reaction. Then he laughed. "I thought he looked better with mask on."

There are, of course, other reasons the Rangers honored Bathgate (and Howell) last night. Both were Rangers captains, and Bathgate scored 272 goals for them, including 40 in 1958-59 when he won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. Howell was a prototypical stay-at-home defenseman who was an eight-time all-star and won the Norris Trophy in 1968-69.

Bathgate and Howell were perpetual bright spots on the Rangers during a time when they were often the sixth-place team in the NHL's Original Six franchises, playing games at the old Madison Square Garden that had choppy ice and a rickety practice rink on the fourth floor of the building.

"It was a figure-skating rink with aluminum boards. Nice pink lights and purple lights and mirrors all over the place so the figure skaters could look at themselves," Howell said. "Our guys liked looking at themselves, too."

Bathgate played parts of 12 seasons with the Rangers, and Howell set the franchise record for games played by a defenseman over his 17 years with the team which still stands -1,160. Neither won a Stanley Cup with the team, their careers taking place during the 54-year drought that ran from 1940-94. But both have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame - Bathgate in 1978, Howell in '79.

The Rangers actually honored Howell once before, with "Harry Howell Night" in 1967. This was Bathgate's first Garden party, and as he watched his jersey join Adam Graves' No. 9, which was retired last month, in the rafters last night, he smiled, looking around at the legion of Rangers fans who were giving him a standing ovation. What he couldn't see was the nation of goalies, past and present, who were cheering for him, too.